Mediapitek

Amazon Web Services to collect Armenian VAT of 20%

Amazon Web Services Logo

I received a very interesting letter today. It said: “Effective May 1 2019, AWS will be required to collect Armenian VAT at a rate of 20% on charges incurred by non-business customers with a registered address in Armenia.” (more…)

Anthony Bordain’s Take on Armenia

So I went for a beer with a couple of friends and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain turned up.

Armenia — Departure gates at “Zvartnots” Armenian International Airports, Yerevan, 21Mar2018m

I travel pretty often, which usually means getting into the “Zvartnots” international aitport in the middle of the night or coming back to darkness and a sleeping city. So much so that I have come to regard our airport as the ‘midnight’ airport.

While some Russian and Ukrainian flights do happen in broad…

Armenia ranks 111th among 165 nations in cyber-security index

Armenia is ranked only 111th out of 165 nations in a global index that measures the commitment of nations across the world to cyber-security. (more…)

Not Cool. Serzh Sargsyan Confirms Plans To Stay in Power

If anyone had any doubts, Serzh Sargsyan gave the clearest signal so far about his intentions to stay in power after his second presidential term expires on April 9th. (more…)

I just saw this huge banner ad on Yerevan’s central Baghramyan avenue.

(more…)

Armenia ranks 29th in World Economic Freedom 2017 report

Armenia’s ranking has registered a significant drop in this year’s World Economic Freedom 2017 report by the Fraser Institute. Still, it is doing much better compared to the Global Competitiveness report, which I wrote about earlier. The country was placed 23rd in the previous report, but it has slipped all the way down to the 29th position. (more…)

Armenia is 79th in Global Competitiveness Report

Armenia in Global Competitiveness Report 2017-2018

For all the loud promises Armenian authorities are making about enhancing the countries competitiveness, Armenia is only 73rd among 137 countries in the Global Competitiveness Report 2017-2018. (more…)

Lilly Sargsyan, wins ‘Miss Armenia 2017’ beauty contest

‘Miss Armenia 2017’ beauty contest took place at the National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet named after Al. Spendiaryan in Yerevan, Armenia | Photo by Photolure

After a 5-year break a beauty pageant was held again in Armenia. The title of “Miss Armenia 2017” was issued to Lilly Sargsyan. The 17-year-old will represent Armenia in the Miss World 2017contest which will be held in China in…

Russian-Israeli blogger defeats Azerbaijan’s Karabakh blacklist

A picture taken on February 7, 2017, shows Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin upon his landing in Baku after being extradicted from Belarus to Azerbaijan.  AFP PHOTO / TOFIK BABAYEV

Azerbaijan’s grand experiment of scaring everyone with its blacklist and making the Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin an example to scare everyone away from Nagorno-Karabakh has failed spectacularly.…

They used to call me Russian Comy (Communist) in my US high school — Salinas High. It was in 1995, Armenia had been an independent country for 4 years and I was a proud citizen. Sadly, the big World Atlas on the wall of the government class didn’t know anything about the collapse of the USSR. (more…)

Serzh Sargsian’s Photo with Donald and Melania Trump

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan attended a reception hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump in New York for the heads of country delegations participating in the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly on September 19th. (more…)

Armenia is the world’s 3rd most militarized country. Global Militarization Index

Armenia revealed it owned a set of 9K720 Iskander (SS-26 ‘Stone’) short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) in its military parade on 21 September, 2016 Source: Karen Vrtanesyan / Razm.info

The ten countries that have the highest levels of militarization for the year 2015 are Israel, Singapore, Armenia, Jordan, Russia, South Korea, Cyprus, Greece, Azerbaijan and Brunei in the Global Militarization…